The invention relates to a kit including a sheet of material, which has a plurality of detachable retro-reflective warning signs, and a means for attaching each of these signs to an object in order to increase the object""s conspicuity.
With the dawn of the automobile came the need for safety traffic control devices. The increase of automobile use around the clock necessitated the use of light reflectors of various designs and configurations, as known in the prior art. More specifically, light reflectors of various configurations devised and utilized for the purpose of employing reflected light from an object through the use of a large number of methods and apparatuses have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Thus, for instance, with a traffic or warning sign, a reflective sheet utilizing a retro-reflective property, that is, a property of reflecting a light beam in a direction reverse to a direction of light incidence, is widely used. Most times when a vehicle breaks down, the driver will manage to guide it off the shoulder or roadside. However, it all too often happens that a speeding vehicle will slam into the disabled one, creating an unnecessary accident especially during low-light conditions such as at dusk, in the dark, or early dawn. Similarly, a driver of a disabled car can expose himself/herself to a speeding vehicle when she steps out of the disabled vehicle parked on a roadside. The incidents of this kind of out of the disabled vehicle parked on a roadside. The incidents of this kind of accident hopefully can be somewhat reduced if both the disabled vehicle and its driver had easily detachable reflective warning signs to alert drivers of approaching vehicles about a disabled one stopped on a roadside.
It is therefore, desirable to provide a kit having a combination of detachable reflective warning signs preferably made of vinyl and a means for attaching these signs to a variety of surfaces.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a set of a plurality of reflective warning signs, which can be easily separated from one another and conveniently stored in the glove compartment or trunk of a vehicle for emergency use.
With a reflective warning sign in accordance with the invention, reflectivity is obtained while the disabled vehicle and/or its driver are also more likely to be observed by a driver of another vehicle from a retro-reflection of the vehicle""s head lights.
This is achieved in accordance with one aspect of the invention by providing a combination of detachable reflective signs which are differently sized. Preferably, a sheet of reflective material has a plurality of endless seams that define borders between neighboring signs. Typically, the sheet of material includes an array of uniformly shaped signs, wherein a larger sign surrounds a smaller sign. However, the sheet of material may be composed of a plurality of signs which are arranged in a pattern including a plurality of rows and columns. A shape and size of the signs vary to enable a user to attach them to different objects which are to be illuminated by the lights of approaching vehicles.
The sheet of material is preferably composed of a back-up layer, an intermediate retro-reflective layer and a covering layer. The back-up and covering layers are made of thermoplastic flexible materials. Characteristically, the intermediate retro-reflective layer is encapsulated between the top and back layers. Alternatively, the sheet of material may be composed of only two layers, one of which is a retro-reflective layer and the other one is a vinyl layer.
The inventive kit also includes a means for attaching the signs to different parts of a vehicle and its driver. The attaching means can not only provide a reliable longtime attachment of the signs, but it also allows a user to remove the thus attached signs immediately after an emergency situation ceases to exist.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a kit which includes a sheet of material that consists of a plurality of detachable interconnected retro-reflective signs, each of which is can be mounted to a vehicle, which is parked along a roadside, and/or to its driver to reflect a light beam emitted from approaching vehicles.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a kit which includes a combination of releasable retro-reflective warning signs and an attaching means for temporarily attaching the signs to a vehicle and/or to its driver in case of emergency.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention.